Philosophy
Driving in this morning, listening to "Marketplace," the announcer recalled the story of a friend whose mother told him when he was a child that when the ice cream truck was playing music, it meant that it was out of ice cream. Parents play on the ignorance of children with these little lies of convenience -- or are tempted to -- all the time. Kids don't know how the world works, so they turn to us to construct it for them. Sometimes we construct their world so that it does not match up with ours, but the constructed world makes theirs and our lives easier. In this case, the mother not only doesn't have to hear constant pleas for ice cream (pleas as opposed to "please" which is often whined in pleas), but the child does not have to suffer constant hope and disappointment. His life is better. But it is a lie. Is such a little paternalistic lie of convenience justified?
- Modern Mencken
Tomorrow is Mencken day at the Enoch Pratt Library, honoring one of the great intellects of Baltimore. Who would be the modern day version of H.L. Mencken? Is there a writer who is smart, ascerbic, conservative, and wry? P.J. O'Rourke? ...
- Can You Really Own A Position?
I've been thinking about the use of the verb to own with respect to an intellectual view. When a student is being wishy-washy about a proposition he or she is arguing for and clearly believes, I'll tell the student to "own the position." ...
- The Irrationality Of Being A Fan
Today is opening day for the Orioles. I'm a lifelong O's fan and my kids have been junior Orioles for the last five years -- I figure, well, you have to learn to cuss sometime. In long discussions about the nature of bring a fan with...
- Historians, Archaeologists, And Scientists
Are historians scientists? They frame hypotheses about the causes and effects of real events and use empirical evidence to support their accounts. But they don't do not look for regularities to make into laws; to the contrary, they account...
- Grammar Curmudeons
Had a student ask yesterday about grammatical pet peeves. His was "irregardless." My big three are: 1) "Quote" used for "quotation." Quote is a verb. You quote someone. What you write down is not a quote, but a quotation. ...
Philosophy
Little Paternalistic Lies of Convenience
Driving in this morning, listening to "Marketplace," the announcer recalled the story of a friend whose mother told him when he was a child that when the ice cream truck was playing music, it meant that it was out of ice cream. Parents play on the ignorance of children with these little lies of convenience -- or are tempted to -- all the time. Kids don't know how the world works, so they turn to us to construct it for them. Sometimes we construct their world so that it does not match up with ours, but the constructed world makes theirs and our lives easier. In this case, the mother not only doesn't have to hear constant pleas for ice cream (pleas as opposed to "please" which is often whined in pleas), but the child does not have to suffer constant hope and disappointment. His life is better. But it is a lie. Is such a little paternalistic lie of convenience justified?
- Modern Mencken
Tomorrow is Mencken day at the Enoch Pratt Library, honoring one of the great intellects of Baltimore. Who would be the modern day version of H.L. Mencken? Is there a writer who is smart, ascerbic, conservative, and wry? P.J. O'Rourke? ...
- Can You Really Own A Position?
I've been thinking about the use of the verb to own with respect to an intellectual view. When a student is being wishy-washy about a proposition he or she is arguing for and clearly believes, I'll tell the student to "own the position." ...
- The Irrationality Of Being A Fan
Today is opening day for the Orioles. I'm a lifelong O's fan and my kids have been junior Orioles for the last five years -- I figure, well, you have to learn to cuss sometime. In long discussions about the nature of bring a fan with...
- Historians, Archaeologists, And Scientists
Are historians scientists? They frame hypotheses about the causes and effects of real events and use empirical evidence to support their accounts. But they don't do not look for regularities to make into laws; to the contrary, they account...
- Grammar Curmudeons
Had a student ask yesterday about grammatical pet peeves. His was "irregardless." My big three are: 1) "Quote" used for "quotation." Quote is a verb. You quote someone. What you write down is not a quote, but a quotation. ...